


(Day 7) correlophus ciliatus

by frillshark



Series: TWDG november drabbles [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Gen, baby's first daemon au, this is kinda weird im sorry lads, twdgdrabblechallenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-25 02:57:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21349117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frillshark/pseuds/frillshark
Summary: Day 7 prompt: "Hunting"Enlisted on a hunting trip with Lilly, Mark makes an attempt to bond with his new group. Unsurprisingly, the topic of conversation turns to Daemons.
Series: TWDG november drabbles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1536733
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11





	(Day 7) correlophus ciliatus

**Author's Note:**

> tbh these drabbles are getting progressively weirder  
so me and my friend Ace_Pirate made a s1 daemon au (which btw are like...these animals things that are like a physical representation of your soul) a little while ago and i think i can officially say im hooked on the concept. you can find the post I made about it [here](https://frill-shark.tumblr.com/post/188698715242/twdg-s1-daemon-au)  
This is also for stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale's drabble prompts, which you can find [here](https://stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale.tumblr.com/post/188685687800/twdg-writing-challenge-write-a-drabble-every-day)!  
also the title is the scientific name of the crested gecko bc i was trying to be fancy

One week.

It had been one week since Mark had left the air base. One week since hiding in the hollow, abandoned building, being terrified of a world he no longer recognized, became too much to bear. Even with the company of Gilda, his crested gecko Daemon, he’d never felt more alone in his life.

And then he and Gilda had found a group of survivors (or really, they found him), who—by some godly stroke of luck—were willing to take him in, although the fact that he had a stash of commissary supplies in the base probably helped seal the deal. There wasn’t much doubt left in his mind that this was a better way to live than how things had been before, but it was clear that some of these people didn’t really... Get along, so to speak. In fact-

“Mark! Are you even paying attention?”

He was standing in the woods, rifle heavy in his hands and Lilly staring at him coldly. 

Feeling Gilda dig her tiny claws into his neck, he quickly said “Sorry. I got distracted for a moment.”

Lilly’s distrustful look faded, but not by much. “I don’t know what kind of world you think you’re still living in, but ‘getting distracted’ can get you killed out here.” 

“She’s not wrong,” Gilda whispered, scuttling onto Mark’s jacket collar. “We really should be a bit more careful.”

“Hm,” Mark mumbled back, having turned his attention to Lilly’s Daemon, a secretary bird named Charon, who was giving him (if possible) an even chillier stare than Lilly herself had. When they’d first met, Mark had thought that he was one of the coolest Daemons he’d ever seen, going up against that pilot’s bearded vulture back when he worked at the air base. Then, on his first day at the motel, he’d seen him nearly stomp on Kenny’s chicken Daemon when they’d gotten into a heated argument, and now he was more intimidated by him than anything else.

For a couple minutes they waited in silence (which seemed to be Lilly’s preferred hunting strategy), keeping an eye out for any critter that looked somewhat edible. In all honesty, the hunting trip—in Mark’s mind, at least—didn’t feel very urgent. The supplies he’d brought with him ensured that, for once, food wasn’t the main concern.

“Perhaps we should keep moving,” Gilda’s pondering voice sounded as she crawled down his jacket and onto his sleeve. “We’ve been here for the past twenty minutes with no luck.”

“Isn’t hunting supposed to be about patience or something?” He lifted the hand she was clinging to, and she gave him a wide blink.

Lilly eyed the gecko with an expression that could almost be called curiosity. “... Do you worry about her at all?”

Mark glanced over at her, looking more than a little confused. “Huh?”

“I mean, she’s… A pretty fragile Daemon. Do you worry about her getting crushed or hurt?” Lilly shrugged, and Mark genuinely wasn’t sure whether to take her words as a sign of concern or disdain.

He shifted a bit from side to side. “Not really, I guess? Gilda always sticks pretty close to me, so I don’t have to keep track of her that much. And it’s not like a walker would see her as much of a meal or anything.” As he chuckled weakly, he felt Gilda prickle up in alarm at his words, and he placed a finger on her back comfortingly.

“I think I’d feel pretty vulnerable if I were you. But… She’s your Daemon, I guess.” Sighing, Lilly went back to watching over the bushes for a huntable animal that didn’t exist. Charon, on the other hand, was looking just about anywhere but the clearing, most likely trying to watch for potential threats.

After a moment of hesitation, Mark made the decision to try one last time to get a conversation to stay afloat. “Hey, uh, you know what I think is funny?”

It was clear by the expression on her face that Lilly wasn’t that interested, but she humored him anyway. “What is it?”

“Kenny’s Daemon being a chicken. Okay, maybe that’s not that funny—or funny at all, really—but, uh, you just wouldn't expect it from someone like him, right?” Mark trailed off awkwardly. He could practically feel the embarrassment radiating from Gilda with all the force an eight-inch lizard could have.

Now both Lilly and Charon were staring at him, and for a second he thought they were just going to ignore him (which he honestly wouldn’t have blamed them for, that was probably the worst conversation starter in the history of conversation starters) when Lilly suddenly said “No. I think it makes perfect sense, actually.”

Before Mark could even consider a response, she continued with “When I was a little girl, my great-uncle had this poultry farm. I went there  _ one  _ time, and one of his chickens got loose and started chasing me around like it’s life purpose was to kill me.”

“I chased it off, of course,” Charon spoke coolly, and Mark couldn’t help but jump a little. He didn’t think he’d ever heard Charon talk up until this point.

“What I’m saying is, it’s pretty obvious to me why the most stubborn, aggressive, pain-in-the-ass person in this group is paired with the most stubborn, aggressive, and pain-in-the-ass creature out there.”

“Oh.” Was all Mark could really say back. He’d known from the start that Lilly and Kenny were on poor terms, or just didn’t like each other, but it wasn’t like he’d thought it was  _ that _ bad. Genuinely unsure of what to say, he decided to just keep his mouth shut, a move he could tell Gilda agreed with without even having to look at her. 

For what felt like an eternity afterward, they stood in tense silence. Then, finally, Charon glanced over at Lilly and quietly said “We should move on. There’s nothing here.” Mark had to strain hard to hear even half of the bird’s words.

Lilly let out a long, long sigh. “Fine. Come on Mark, let’s go see if-“ she was cut off by a rustle in the distant bushes, and all four of them—humans and Daemons alike—froze. Lilly instinctively lifted her rifle.

“Hey! Don’t shoot, it’s just us!” Lee hastily trudged through the foliage into the clearing, his Daemon Joan (an imposing dog of a breed Mark admittedly couldn’t remember at the moment) close to his side. Lilly slowly lowered the gun, and the brief jolt of panic Mark had felt faded.

Joan scrutinized the little group. “It seems like you didn’t have much luck either.”

Before any of them could bristle, Lee quickly added “But that’s not to criticize or anything. It’s like the whole damn forest is empty today.”

Surprisingly, Lilly gave in without a fight. “Alright, alright. Let’s go back for today, we’re not getting anywhere by just waiting for something to come to us.”

They fastened their weapons and set off down the trail. Lilly took the lead like always, Charon practically stalking behind her. Mark fell back a bit so he could check in with Lee.

“Well, at least I know one person who won’t be disappointed by this,” Lee said jokingly as soon as he saw Mark approach, but his tone didn’t hide the tired look on his face. “Clementine never liked it when we brought back a dead squirrel or rabbit or something.”

“I don’t really blame her—she’s like eight or nine, right? And honestly, hunting was never my favorite thing either.” Mark shrugged, feeling Gilda’s tiny claws dig into his skin as she scrambled back up to his shoulder.

They talked for a little longer during the short trek back, about what Mark thought of the group and how things were going for him and Gilda. At one point, he’d asked about Clementine—who, judging by the spark that lit up his eyes when he mentioned her, clearly meant the world to Lee—and he’d told him how she was having her own Daemon test out canine forms in mimicry of Joan, which was probably the cutest thing he’d heard in a long time.

Almost as soon as they’d reached the motel and had set down what meager things they’d brought on the trip, Gilda (who’d always been nervous about talking with others around) leaned over to whisper in his ear. “I think we made the right decision by staying here. It’s not perfect, but…”

“It’s not like we’ve got any other options.” Mark sighed, finishing her sentence. All things considered, this was probably the best they were going to get. 


End file.
